Call of Blood and Bonds of Family
by Ahrimal
Summary: As Hikaru has just met Sai and takes him for a game of go, something critical changes. Akira is not aware of the taint in his blood, which is quickly awakening. What will become of the boy? And what does Sai have to do with it? How much does he know of Ak
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: This will be a Hikaru no Go/ Hitsuji no Uta crossover. I will try my best with the story, and I would appreciate constructive reviews. I do not own any characters in this story, nor does either series belong to me.

Call of Blood and Bonds of Family

"Ne, Hikaru, where are we going? I really want to play go again", Fujiwara no Sai asked in a childishly cheerful manner.

"Oi, oi, hold on. We'll be going to a go salon or something like that. Just wait a little longer. We're almost there." Hikaru answered.

"But I want to play now!" Sai whined.

Holding back an urge to sigh, Shindou Hikaru ignored the ghost and walked on. It had not been too long ago since that day he had investigated the goban in his grandfather's attic. Now, he sometimes wished he had not. His life had taken a strange turn, having to share his mind with a go-playing ghost, who was still obsessed with it. Hence, he found himself trying to find a go salon trying to satisfy Sai's craving.

Thankfully, in a few more moments, he finally found in and stepped in.

"Excuse me, are you new here?" Ichikawa asked

"Um, hai, I was wondering if I could play here." Hikaru asked.

"Of course you may. You will have to pay a fee of entrance, though." Ichika replied.

Hikaru paused. He had not brought any money with him today. "Um, I-"

"That's all right, Ichikawa-san. This is first time. I'm sure it can be overlooked", cut in a boy with deep, emerald eyes.

Ichikawa blinked and replied, "Well, if you want, I guess that's all right."

The boy nodded and spoke to Hikaru again, "Watashi wa Touya Akira desu. Hajimemashite."

"I'm Shindou Hikaru. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"I can guess you are a beginner. Well, let us go to the back and prepare a goban."

Since Akira had first appeared. Sai's attention was focused on him.

'This boy, somehow his scent seems very familiar. Yet, why does the smell of his blood seem so…tainted? Unless he is…no, he could not possibly be, or could he?'

'Oi, Sai!', Shindou said mentally, breaking Sai's train of thought.

'Hai, Hikaru?'

'You're going to play go now. Happy?'

'Hai. This boy seems to have great talent and potential for age, among other things.'

'Other things? Such as?'

'It is nothing important. If it does become vital, I will disclose my thoughts. Now let us play.'

Hikaru shrugged off Sai's evasiveness and sat down. This other boy, Touya Akira, interested him. He was so calm and collected, elegant and dignified, an exact contrast to Hikaru. There something magnetic about him.

They prepared the goban and prepared to start. Just then, Hikaru hand slipped and apparently cut itself on some sharp surface.

Slowly, blood started to ooze out of the wound, and time seemed to stop. As Akira looked at the blood flowing, suddenly his chest contracted, his breathing starting to quicken. Something was stirring inside of him. He could feel it coursing through him, the sight of the blood driving him insane with an alien thirst. Hand over his mouth, he suddenly shot up from the chair.

"Anou, daijobu desu ka?", Hikaru asked, startled and afraid.

"Watashi, watashi wa-", Akira could not reply properly as imaged of blood reverbrated through his mind. Unable to withstand it any longer, he suddenly blacked out.

Several hours later, Akira awoke to find himself lying on a couch somewhere in the back of the lounge.

"Are you all right? I was really worried when you fainted" Hikaru asked.

"I, I am just a bit dizzy these days. I'm slightly anemic. I'm sorry to have caused you this trouble."

"That's all right. You're fine, so that's what matters."

Seeing that Akira looked drained, Hikaru continued, "Perhaps we should call it a day? Maybe I can come back another time?"

Akira nodded gratefully. He was feeling too lethargic to continue, added to the headache he was starting to develop.

"Feel free to stop by then, Shindou. I'm here quite often. Excuse me, I need to go home now."

Akira bowed, collected his belongings, muttered a brief excuse to Ichikawa, and left.

Hikaru turned to Sai, surprised to see that the ghost had a stern, anxious look on his face. Furthermore, Sai was staring after the retreating boy, seeming quite distressed.

"Sai, what's wrong? You look unhappy?"

"There is nothing wrong, Hikaru. Perhaps you should go home as well."

"Ah? Didn't you want to play go? We can find someone else."

"That's fine, perhaps another time. In the mean while, I have some matters to oversee. I will be back in your room later, Hikaru."

With that, Sai disappeared, leaving Hikaru utterly befuddled.

Sai hurried after Akira, was with him unseen as the youth boarded the train.

'Is it possible, Touya Akira? Are you a descendant of that particular bloodline? I had prayed with every bit of my soul that this would not have gone on, that the agony and pain would not continue. Please, let it have ended. Let him to have been the last. I do not wish for anymore of that clan to suffer this curse of blood.'

Perhaps an hour later, Akira stepped off the train and wandered in a semi-daze to some final destination.

'What am I doing? This is not the way home. Yet, I seem to have some vague memories from the time when I was a mere babe. Going to this place where I was born. I cannot continue like this. Lately, I've been listless. I've lost my appetite. I can't seem to be motivated to do anything. And now, these panic attacks, these fainting spells induced by blood. I can't continue like this. I need answers. Somehow, by going to this place, I think I will find them. What is happening to me?'

Somehow, Akira managed to find his way to an old house. Stopping at the gate, he read the sign, noting that it belonged to the Takashiro clan.

'Takashiro, where have I heard that name before?' Akira thought.

Sai's eyes widened in horrified recognition as he read the name, 'Kami, no, please don't let the boy be one of them. Don't make me go through the pain of watching this happen again. Don't let his innocence be torn to shreds.'

"Sumimasen, do you live here?" asked a pale, solemn boy, with straight hair, interrupting the thoughts of the two.

"Anou, iie, I just felt an urge to come here, perhaps to return here? Gomen nasai, is this your house?" Akira answered.

"Not exactly, I felt pulled to come back to this place, my old house…By the way, I'm Takashiro Kazuna."

"I should have introduced myself before. I'm Touya Akira. I was just hoping someone would be here. Perhaps-"

"What are you two doing at my house?" broke in a third voice.

The two boys turned, seeing that the voice belonged to a young, pretty girl, with long, straight hair spilling over her shoulders. She shared the pale complexion of the two boys, along with their somber, moody expressions.

Akira responded first, "Gomen-nasai, demo, I don't know how to explain this. Somehow, I felt pulled to return to this place, a very hazy memory. I felt that perhaps I could find the answers I seek here. I'm-"

Chizuna interrupted, "Yes, you're Akira. I know. The boy with you, Kazuna, I know as well."

She paused briefly, before giving a bitter smile, "It's been a long time, my two otoutou."

Sai watched the exchange with warring expressions of desperate denial along with frustration and pain.

He thought, 'Kami, damn you! I prayed day and night, and still the gods have forced them to continue suffering. Why them? Why did it have to be the Takashiro clan?! That curse has passed on to these three siblings. The taint courses through their very blood. Why did the future generations of the bloodline have to suffer? Why these three innocents? They are only children!'

Unheard to all, a long, frenzied scream of anguish erupted from Fujiwara no Sai's throat, as tears of hopeless misery streamed unceasing down his cheek.


	2. Chapter 2

Akira was about to ask what Chizuna meant when she called him otoutou, but she cut off any questions he and Kazuna had.

"Enough. Come inside first. We will continue the discussion in the living room."

The two boys reluctantly followed the intimidating girl into the dark, quiet house.

Though still reeling with intense emotions, Sai had managed to rein them back to a controlled level. Composing himself, he followed the three teenagers.

'I can't afford to drown in the past. I need to do what I can to ease the burden for these three. I must. After everything he did for me, I owe his bloodline that much.'

Kazuna and Akira kneeled at the table in the living room. Chizuna placed two cups of tea in front of them before walking to the screen door. Sliding it open, Chizuna looked outside at the garden, the plants swaying about gently in the wind. Unknown to them, Sai was kneeling next to the boys, grimly fanning himself.

"Kazuna, do you remember me?" Chizuna inquired.

"Yes, onee-san. I noticed that the garden is still tended to. Do you come here often?"

"I live here. I've come back to Tokyo."

"Nani?! Then otou-san, is he with you?"

Chizuna hesitated, then turned back to Kazuna, "Otou-san died six months ago."

"Naze?! Why wasn't I told about this? Aren't I our father's child as well? Did he care so little about me?" Kazuna suddenly shouted. Surprised and slightly afraid, Akira shrank back from his brother's outburst.

Nonetheless, Akira tried to mollify Kazuna, "Onegai, please let Chizuna-san finish."

Chizuna continued, "I did tell your Uncle Eda about this, Kazuna. You have not been informed?"

Kazuna searched his memory, "Iie. I was not told. To be honest, even now, I cannot remember otou-san's face well. I can't say that I'm very upset or distressed about his passing. I was so young when I was left behind with the Eda couple."

Chizuna answered, "Please, don't hold it against otou-san. He only wanted you to have a normal life. Same with you, Akira."

Akira was shocked, "Are you saying that I was adopted by the Touya couple? I don't remember any of this."

"Well, that's to be expected. You were only a mere baby, barely a year old then. Shortly after otou-san left Kazuna with the Eda family, he left you with the Touya family. Both of them were good friends of father. He asked them to take care of you."

Chizuna paused and snickered.

"What's so funny?" Kazuna growled.

"Nothing. It's just amusing how you and Akira are so clueless. Then again, I would expect that, since everyone around both of you does their best to keep you clueless about our past."

"Chizuna-san, please clarify," Akira requested.

"…We Takashiro are of a vampiric lineage."

"Nani! And I was seriously listening to you until now!" Kazuna broke in.

Chizuna snickered again, "It is just a comparison, an analogy. The Takashiro clan was one of the most ancient noble families. However, during the time of the Heiyan court, we began to decline. Our once great wealth had been all but spent. We began losing favor. One of our noble women spent a night with a curious, passing stranger. Not long after that, she fell ill. Though she was isolated, the illness spread through the entire clan. Since then, for the most part, we have fled to the wilderness and lived in isolation, away from the humans. We are the result of that legacy. This disease, I suppose you could call it. When we have spasms, it's because of the craving. The thirst manifests, and we feel the urge to bite someone's neck, to break through the skin and drink the blood. This taint is passed through the lineage, flows through our very blood."

Akira and Kazuna were both shocked and did not know what to say. Sai, however, did not seem surprised at all, only grimly resolved.

Chizuna remarked, "The wind has stopped."

Chizuna continued cynically, "But, of course, to you two who live normal lives, as father wished, this does not at all matter. Believe me or don't. It's your choice. This conversation is over. Leave now and do not return. Do you understand why father left with me? I am also a vampire. I do not know what I may do to you two."

With that, the two boys were shown outside, Sai following behind. They were all deep in thought.

Suddenly, Akira turned to Kazuna, "Kazuna-san, should I escort you back home?"

"Arigato, but I'll be fine. Akira-kun, are you all right?"

"This was a lot to take in. I want to deny it, but I can sense the truth in onee-san's words. I will investigate further when I go home. In the mean time, I guess this requires further pondering on my part."

"Here's my address and phone number. We should try to keep in touch…otouou."

Akira's eyes widened slightly, as this was the first time the other boy had acknowledged him as his little brother.

Despite the ominous situation, Akira couldn't help but give a quiet smile, "Hai. Arigato, aniki."

"Ja ne."

With that, the brothers parted ways.

On the train, Akira was wondering how many people were keeping secrets from him. When he returned him, he resolved to wait until his foster parents were asleep. Then he would investigate the old photo album, the one Touya Kouyo had advised him not to look at.

Sai lingered with the boy a moment longer, even patting the boy's head affectionately.

'Akira, even though I am but a dead spirit now, I will do what I can to ease the pain for you, Chizuna, and Kazuna. I swear by my bloodline. Perhaps it is for this purpose that the gods have allowed me to linger in this world.'

With that, Sai disappeared and suddenly returned to Hikaru's room.

"Sai, where have you been!? I was worried sick! Why did you run off like that?"

"I apologize for being so abrupt. However, it was necessary that I not lose sight. Hikaru, I need your help."

"Eh?"

"Tomorrow, after school, please go to the library. I need you to find books focusing upon blood diseases. Bring them back here."

"Why the sudden interest in medicine? I thought it was all about go for you. Don't you want to play go again tomorrow or something like that?"

"Do not argue. Please, just do as I ask."

Hikaru was surprised that Sai seemed so grim and focused, completely different from the way he had acted a few days prior. Perhaps he should play along for now. Then he could find out what was going on by himself, as Sai did not seem very forthcoming with information.


End file.
